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I doubt I will make another HWS, it is just so much work and I seem unable to use half my ass when the other butt cheek is right there.

I got to say My first probox install went pretty well, but I still have 2 boxes I can screw up. In my pic above the outermost stringer is visible. There is a fair amount of wood on the other side too just in case I changed my mind as to how far from the rail or the amount of toe in I ultimately chose. and I really wanted to spread the finbox load over a larger area.

I was able to use about 24Ml per probox, about 6ML less than the recommended 1oz per box. I have some fiberglass tape with a really tight weave that I used for lining the hole, and also used 18 inches of roving around the box itself before inserting into the hole. I would guess it is about 10oz weight tape.

I read a few older sway's threads where people were having issues wrapping the roving around the box and getting it in the hole. without it unravelling. I decided to wet the whole of the box with epoxy, then wrapped it with the roving and dabbed more epoxy on the ends. I was really able to pull the roving tight, and I think I could have used 27 inches of roving for 3 wraps instead of just 2 wraps at 18 inches. The roving stayed in place and getting it in the hole that had the cloth sock saturated and pushed tight to the walls was simple. I only used the mixing stick to push down the few bits of the sock which stuck up above the hole.

I did just one plug at first, just to establish how much epoxy I really needed, then doubled that amount for the other two, and took my sweet time. The SYs3 CC resin is so slow it is not a worry, andf I don;t have to do it in two steps worrying about exotherm. I will likely just have enough o the CC resin for the other 2 proboxes.

All my other HWS's, I just installed the airvent with thumbscrew up in the nose, and it always annoyed me that it was so big and bulky. This time I ground down the thumb screw receptacle to a much smaller diameter and put it as far up as possible in the nose to facilitate drainage for the inevitable water entry.

Since water entry is pretty much inevitable at some point, I also decided that some cross ventilation would be wise, and I addded a threaded brass insert into the tail. It accepts a 1/4-20 thread. i cut it down a bit in size and did a lot of reinforcement to insure that I could not twist it out of the board when unthreading the grub screw. I do not plan on using any Oring or surface protrusion, but will use a waterproof threadlocker on the 1/4-20 Brass grub screw I have yet to acquire. Pics show stainless grub screw i cut and then cut a slot into the head. I kept this in place while shaping to keep the dust out.

The rear vent came in handy when prepping the board for laying the deck panel into place. I put a bolt in there with an S hook and was able to suspend the deck panel from the airvents While I applied thickened epoxy to the tops of all the internal structure. Hanging the deck panel meant i did not need a second set of hands and could work alone in peace. I actually could have used help to apply the thickened epoxy but teaching someone how to do it and then scheduling them to help, I said F it I will use the sloooow epoxy, and do it all myself.

The front air vent was also so tight inbetwen the stringers it made aligning the deck panel pretty easy, especially with the tail of the panel hangin by the rear air vent's S hook.

Sanding the Brass vent when shaping the board was pretty easy.

i Purchased some of this threadlocker, which claims to be waterproof and will not dry up like Locktite red.

I have no intention of removing the grub screw unless water gets inside, and then I will rig up some sort of acquarium pump to pull air through it and dry it out. I did really seal the interior on this one much better than every other HWS I have built, but decided cross ventilation was needed for the inevitable water entry..

Since the leash will exit of the tailblock and not be able to really apply any lateral pressure to a flanged O ringed Pan head bolt, i could go that route too, but the O ring will not be compressed perfectly even. I tried to angle the insert so it would flatten an o ring evenly on the tapered tail, once shaped, but that angle was pretty much a guess, and I missed. Oh well.

My low angle block planes blades got a fair amount of abuse and a lot of of sharpening.

After the deck panel was in place, with the wood grain going in so many directions., most of the rail bands were accomplished with 80 grit, as the block plane would tend to tear out the cedar in certain areas and so did the power planer.

I tried the belt sander on the router speed controller but found it too hard to hold on the same angle. I found shaping the rails to be frustrating, as I know someone with a lot of confidence with a power planer could have gotten it close eough that tear out could be sanded out, and be done it in a few hours.
I spread it out over a few months, pretty much exclusively using sandpaper.

The fiberglass glass stuck to the shaving, is 1 layer of 1.43 and 1 layer of 3.7oz e cloth. It came from the deck panel. There is a chance ther is two layers of 1.43+ the E cloth. Can't remember. I was impressed with the bond strength, that the glass remained bonded to the side of the shaving.

I got the two last proboxes installed today. These seemed to really want to float, and I did the waxpaper and ectra box turned upsoide down, and weighted to make sure the tabs remained on the hull lamination.

Not quite sure why these floated som much more than the other three, The router depth was the same, as was the cloth sock glass.

I got to say that wetting the probox with epoxy, then wrapping it twice wih roving, then saturating it in place with fingers holding it tight in the middle, makes dropping it in the box very simple, and Again, i also saw enough room for a third wrap or roving.

I was not intending the wood grain to line up like it did on this Quad fin route

Thanks, I am pretty happy with how it came out even if it is heavier than i wanted. Better built strong enough rather than gain that weight in eventual repairs. Blow air into every other HWS I made, and the air that escapes smells like cedar, this board it smells only like epoxy which should mean it is well sealed.

It is actually 3 1/8" thick, a bit over 22 wide, and a bit over 6'11" too. Weighs less than my 6'8"x 20 5/8 x 2 5/8", but not by much. It is also the 8th board, not the seventh in the series of this general outline that i have been surfing since the early 90s when i realized pointy nose shortboards are not for me.

I am aiming for a Turkey day swell maiden voyage. If the predicted swell materializes.

I have a fin panel made up out of the same wood as used on the hull, just not sure of what shape of fins to make. Mr Mik's high aspect turbucle single fins on my longboards blew my mind in the happy go lucky and speed department.

I sanded the 'gloss' coat today to 220, much of it by hand. Needs a bit more tuning, and I will just smear a light coat of epoxy onto it for the final gloss coat.

Raising the bar!
Aside from the beauty of the wood, you did a nice job with the template, beautiful curves no wonky spots. Hope we get some foil / rocker shots coming up, beach shots too. Looks like a keeper.

I did manage to get a nice smooth continuous curve outline and keep it symmetrical, but the Doug fir racing stripes made shaping the rails, especially in the nose, much more difficult as it is twice as dense as the cedar and kept wanting to remain a high spot as the cedar sanded so much easier. With the wood grain running in so many different directions, the low angle block plane would risk tearing out that which could not be sanded out.

If I had to do it over, I would use a much lighter colored cedar for the racing stripes rather than a different type of wood. Could have saved an ounce or 3 too. But I will not be making another.

The bottom curves are fairly pronounced. A double concave blending into a ~1/4" deep single under the front foot blending into a double between the fins and flat off the round pin behind last wing. I managed to keep it twist free, well, really I was able to shape the 1/32" nose twist out.